More INOV8 Complaints

[Ben B]

How can you call that lasting well? If you never wear them then of course they'll last well .

I know, they didn't go far because most of my training was on farmland paths or tracks at the time in a pair of trail shoes. But having said that other people have mentioned the shoes falling apart after tens of miles only so by comparison that is lasting well...

That figure is a low estimate to be fair, it included 2 KIMMs, 3 LAMMs, and the training for them plus quite a lot of scrambling. And I do get lost quite a lot

Before I swapped over from Walshes I had a pair of PBs that fell apart after less than a hundred miles, uppers rather than the soles, and the new last turned my heels in to chile con carne...

I thought it was reasonable for someone who has had reasonable longevity from their inov8s to contribute to the thread in the interests of balance. I think my style (or lack of it) probably is easy on my shoes compared to many others on here - it certainly not like I'm a 6ft, 50kg whippet. I have been compared more to a fat labrador with a fondness for warm fires and puddings

HTH

Ben B
(weekly mileage varying between 5 and 50km depending on work, baby duties and sleep deprivation)

[(notsomuchofa)Fellrunner]

You used them over 8 weeks before you found out you didn't like them? In most shops you would get to jog on the spot for 10 seconds before making your decision.
Seems a fair comment by the shop in my opinion.

For the record, I tried Inov8's a couple of years ago. I bust a pair after 2/3 short races, got a replacement pair, same thing happened & never bought another pair since.

[Ben B]

Agreed; and was the abrasion on the outside of the heel? My 270s look very knacked on the outside there but it's just cosmetic. I think you probably had a reasonable time in them and they were therefore "fit for purpose" to use a miserable new phrase. If GF wanted to swap them and absorb the cost fine but I suspect as a consumer you don't have a leg to stand on. Which would make some of the ascents tricky

[david]

But having said that other people have mentioned the shoes falling apart after tens of miles only so by comparison that is lasting well...

Fair point. I've never had a pair of PB Racers or Gladiators fall apart anything like that quickly although my last pair of Glads didn't last quite as long as I expected, probably about 500 miles. That's still longer than both pairs of Inov8s that I've had (290 and 310). I've just had to do a very small stitching repair on some Walsh Raids after about 300 miles but other than that they are fine so far.

[jackie]

I've had a pair of Inov8s which have lasted for years - the reason being that I've only really worn them once. First proper run I had to turn back after just over a mile of track because of the excrutiating heel pain they caused, which then stopped me running for 2-3weeks (despite them feeling fine when trying them on). Despite having done only a couple of miles in them the stitching was coming apart on the uppers aswell! Compared to that my Gladiators last and last, despite regular 2-4hr runs in Snowdonia, ultras in Iceland (volcanic rock is pretty rough on shoes!), etc. My one and only experience of Inov8 was so bad I would never risk another pair, even if they were free!

[daz h]

I am never buying Innov8 again. I bought a pair of Mudclaws from GEORGE FISHERs, KESWICK in may. I used them for 8 weeks and ran a Sunnto T3 recorded 126 miles over soft fields and forest trails around the Tarn Hows/ Grizedale Forest area. They started rubbing up at the heal so I took them back end of July.
I have just received them back from George Fishers, nearly 10 weeks after taking them back to GEORGE FISHERS. Natural ware they say. Bag of sh1t I say.

Customer service? What customer service?

Innov8 ? Never again. and George Fiser can swing for it as far as I care. What a load of shambles.

try orange customer service
think your being a bit harsh on innov 8 , you have to be fair to them as they have launched some very good products, the heel problem was well documented and talked about in fell running circles, you dont say which model you purchased so i cannot comment but i had the grey 280s and had the same problem but DIDNT take them back as there was no point. You could clearly see that the heel kicked back inwards and this was obviously a design fault. Ive tried the flyrocks and they are okay.
We have to praise a company that comes out with new products , okay they might not always work but as graham breeze says the perfect shoe isnt out there

[amadablam]

and even if you invented one it would be a marketing disaster
my boss always tells me , darren dont make the stuff last to long we will never hear from them again
so i dont

It sounds like you might work for Inov-8!!
Saying we can't create the perfect shoe is rubbish. If you use cheap production methods and the shoe is pretty much only guled together then of course you are going to use this as your justification. I'd be interested to find out how much Inov-8 pay for each pair of shoes from their supplier. I bet we'd all be very surprised how little it is. I'd rather pay more for a well made shoe that lasts much longer.

[DanAzz]

I am now onto my second pair of FlyRocs.
I have had the first pair for a year, I have used them nearly every weekend for either 12+mile walks in the Peaks or rocky walks in the Lakes, a few fell races (got pb's as well) or training runs and only cleaned then twice (because they really did smell).

They are splitting a bit where the upper/lowers join (in one area) and there is a little hole in the mesh uppers (little toe?!).

The only reason I have bought another pair now is for the cushioning when running, I will still walk in my old pair.

[daz h]

It sounds like you might work for Inov-8!!
Saying we can't create the perfect shoe is rubbish. If you use cheap production methods and the shoe is pretty much only guled together then of course you are going to use this as your justification. I'd be interested to find out how much Inov-8 pay for each pair of shoes from their supplier. I bet we'd all be very surprised how little it is. I'd rather pay more for a well made shoe that lasts much longer.

do you know anything about staying in buisness the company i have worked for have been in buisness a very long time, we could sell and market a product that would last twice as long but WOULD not sell for twice the priceand in the long run you would end up going bankrupt
so i will try and explain how things tend to work in the UK
correct me if im wrong but i will have a go

if innov 8 tried to market a shoe for say £120.00 yeah and the soles and uppers lasted twice as long
right imagine when they first tried to market them , you can imagine the meeting
right guys we will enter the fell shoe market ( not known for shelling out money willy nilly ) with a shoe for £120.
first problem = walsh sell for £60 or less
2nd problem = customers may not buy them = your left with masses of stock unsold = loose money = bankrupt
3rd problem = lets say they managed to convince a few runners to actually part with the extra cash the problem is then that products generally only have a certain PATENT time on them ( ie say the patent runs out in 3 years just as you have convinced the market that these are the dogs bollox of fell shoes, then along comes mr another company sees that the shoes are doing well and decides to copy them BUT sell them for say £90 a pair.
4th problem = a price war starts , shoes get more and more discounted and in the end like lots of companies the magic product becomes your downfall (ie) victim of your own success
5th problem = the shoes that last twice as long are now selling for a lot less than when you first initially put them on the market

unlike I pods, computers and technical stuff there isnt a lot more you can really do to a fell shoe so the next best thing doesnt come along that often
take road shoes, the market unlike fell shoes is massive so companies like asics can probably justify keep coming out with newer models that seem to be that little more expensive every time but basically are just more cushioned in my view.
the fell shoe market cannot justify it
if it did im sure someone a lot cleverer than me would have already done it.
at least with innov 8 you now have a choice

My personal view is that loads of fellrunners jumped on the innov 8 bandwagon but loads will probably jump ship back, like every new product that comes out it wont be for everyone. Walsh had the market for years , now innov 8 have some of it.
With regards to manufacturing costs , ha , every pair of running shoes that ive probably worn has been made by women and children in taiwan or somewhere for peanuts and thats not good but its market forces simple as that

[marty mcfly]

Anybody out there really love their inovs? As someone above said, in the interest of balance...!